Out of the Cold
by merrygolds
Summary: Emily Moore was a grown woman that couldn't function around pretty men with glittering eyes. They usually made her nervous and she'd end up embarrassing herself far too much to come back from it. But then her friend intervenes, setting her up on some blind date that Emily doesn't even want to go to. But the evening doesn't go like she predicts. [Kozik/OC; oneshot]


In the back of her head, Emily knew this was a bad idea. Surely, by some sort of grace, something would stop her before she made it to his apartment. Why had she let Amanda talk her into this, anyway?

Oh, _right_. She was lonely and meeting men wasn't something that Emily was very good at.

Her cheeks flame with embarrassment as she thinks of the whole situation again. She was almost twenty-eight, for God's sake! Shouldn't she be able to do this sort of thing on her own? Emily knew plenty of people who managed to find a significant other, get married, and even have a couple of kids, but apparently, those things hadn't been in the cards for her.

She was inept at talking to pretty men, always ending up stuttering because their eyes had been too glittering. Amanda said she was just too romantic but Emily felt that it was because she just didn't know what to say. No thoughts would come to her mind while the man stood before her and she'd get embarrassed and say to hell with it before making a hasty retreat. And that's how she ended up here, headed to a strangers house on a Friday night.

God, she needed help.

Emily's phone buzzes in the cup holder to the right of her. It's the app she'd used to get to his apartment letting her know that she was only a few minutes out now.

 _Fuck_.

Her heart starts beating frantically inside her chest while her hands start to grow clammy. The idea to turn around has already been broached many times but Emily knew that Amanda would never let her hear the end of this if she didn't at least show up. Apparently, her best friend had worked really hard to get Emily's blind date, Kozik she'd said his name was, to agree to this, which was something that wasn't boding well for their meet already.

Emily comes to an easy stop in front of a house that is nestled right in the heart of a middle class neighborhood. He didn't live in an apartment like most bachelors Emily knew; he had a nice house with a neatly trimmed lawn. A gleaming motorcycle sits in the nearly empty driveway and that's when she remembers that he was apart of the local MC that controlled Charming. He was a member or something, Amanda had said.

Drawing in a steady breath, she cuts the engine, snatches up her phone, and begins to head up the drive to the front door. Emily jingles her keys as her steps eat up the pavement. What would they talk about? Would he even want her to stay long enough to have a conversation?

Glancing down at her outfit, Emily thinks she looks nice. She'd chosen a nice sundress that stopped a little above her knees and it was a pretty pink color that complimented the blonde in her hair. A pair of tan sandals and some simple diamond studs finished her outfit off. She questioned about it being too simple, but decided that she was already here- no turning back to change her shoes or run like hell from this whole thing.

Emily gets to the door but before she can ring the bell, it's opened by a man that is so large, his wide shoulders barely fit in the frame. He has nicely style blonde hair and blue eyes that are so goddamn electric, they almost make her stagger back.

 _Fuck_ , he had pretty eyes.

"Emily, right?" Kozik asks.

She smiles, a feet she was proud of considering how delicious he looked, and nods. "Yea, that's me."

His gaze scales down her form in a way that makes her shift and when he peers back, her smile is gone. She hoped he wasn't trying to just get a piece of ass; she really wanted a date, not a one night stand.

"Come on in," he says.

As soon as Emily walks through into his house, a mouth-watering smell hits her nose. It was a home cooked meal and when she peered around into the kitchen, she could see the food already waiting. A smile appears on her face as she turns to glance back at the handsome blonde man.

"You cooked?" she asks.

"Yea," he says, cheeks flashing red as he rubs the back of his head. "You ever just get tired of all that shit at the diner or havin' fast food everyday?" Emily nods and allows him to take her keys, which he sets on an entryway table she hadn't noticed earlier. "Me too. It's good to have a nice meal every now and then."

Emily is surprised. She was expecting some take-out, like pizza or Chinese food, but this man had spent who-knows how long cooking a pretty big meal for the two of them. She hopes that's a good omen for the rest of their night.

"It looks really good," she grins.

Kozik smiles too. "Good. You like chicken?"

He places his hand on the small of her back to gently guide her into the kitchen, handing her a plate when they reach the counter that he had all the food laid out on. As they fix their plates, he keeps up the conversation easily and is always smiling. Emily didn't know if he was just a naturally happy person or if he really found the things she said that amusing, though she suspected the first because she wasn't that funny.

They load their plates down and then he motions to a nice dining room table.

As they eat, he starts asking her more personal questions than when she'd first come in. He wants to know about her parents, her time at college, and anything else she'll offer to him. Emily manages to get some questions in for him too, but he doesn't spend too long on his answers and moves on to another question for her before she can open her mouth again. She doesn't want to press him though, because this whole situation is going a lot better than she'd imagined earlier.

"You're in the motorcycle club around here, right?" she manages to squeeze in.

Their plates are clean now and they're merely resting back in their chairs.

Kozik's face lights up so fast that it makes Emily smile too.

"Yea, I am. I'm trying to transfer in from the Tacoma charter," he explains.

Emily's brows furrow. "What's a charter?"

She helps him clean up while he explains some of the in's and out's of his club. It all sounds so intricate- a lot more detailed and organized than Emily had thought. She'd developed the notion that all these leather-clad men did was get drunk, roar up their bikes, and fuck a bunch of whores, but Kozik tells her differently. He describes a brotherhood that lasts a lifetime- a family that some of these men wouldn't otherwise have.

"I got out of the Marines and had no idea how to be a regular citizen. I was just mad at everything because I'd lost so many friends. Couldn't keep a job because some little fuck would try to tell me what to do and I'd end up punching him in the face." He chuckles at that, which makes Emily laugh softly as well. "So I found the club and they helped. There's other Vets in the charter too, so they know what it's like. It's nice."

Emily's envious of him. She'd never had anything like that in her whole life. She was a lonely woman by herself, with no siblings and parents that had passed early on. She had Amanda and some other friends, sure, but she really had no one that understood her.

Kozik tweaks her chin with his big fingers and grins when she looks up at him.

"You lost there, darlin'?" he asks.

Emily smiles shyly at him. "It just sounds nice, what you have. I've never had anything like that in my whole lfe."

The blonde haired man stares at her then, his mouth quirking up a little.

"Maybe you will someday, huh?"

Emily nods and down casts her gaze to the ground. Kozik takes her hand, leading her into the living room.

He has a horror movie he wants her to watch and when she blanches at the gory cover, he chuckles.

"You can hold my hand if you get scared," he teases.

Emily rolls her eyes and settles on the couch next to him.

When the movie starts, she pays attention at first, but then she can feel him moving closer. The warmth from his arm is ghosting over her own while his skin, surprisingly soft, grazes gently. There are thick bands of muscle on his upper arm that she can feel flex when he moves.

Kozik was a handsome man, which she suspected the blonde new. He had this air of confidence and sureness about him that made him even more attractive, but he wasn't cocky. He knew what he was capable of as well as what he wasn't, though Emily suspected there wasn't much that the big biker was unable to do.

She already liked him too much. Of course, she hadn't been on a date with a man in years so Emily was kind of unsure if you were supposed to be this into someone after having just met them; she suspects you probably weren't supposed to, but she can't help it. Kozik was nice, always picking up the conversation when she'd accidentally get too distracted to answer and seemingly really interested in her from all the questions he'd been firing off this evening. It'd been a long time since anyone had bothered to spend any length of time asking her about herself, if she were being honest.

And as she sits beside him on his couch, watching some bloody movie she hadn't been paying attention to, she feels hopeful.

Sometime, while she'd been drowning in her thoughts, there was a loud scream in the movie and the explosive sound causes Emily to jump. Next to her, Kozik chuckles, slides closer and eases his arm around her shoulders. She adjusts into his side easily.

"Sorry," she mumbles, cheeks hot in embarrassment.

Kozik laughs again and gives her shoulders a brief squeeze. "You're alright, doll."

Emily glances up at him, eyes tracing his expression. His blue orbs darken as she looks him over, she notices, the hold he has around her shoulders tightening a little while his body shifts even closer to hers.

Was he going to kiss her? Her heart starts thudding in her chest at the thought of this and her hands become a little clammy for the second time that night. Fuck, she wanted him to kiss her. Kozik was so warm and he'd been so nice and inviting tonight, the idea of him being after some ass erased almost as soon as it'd popped up earlier. Emily liked him- it might've been fucking crazy because she still barely knew him, but she did.

Just as they get close enough for his lips to graze hers, there's another scream from some actress in the movie and it causes her to jump again. The top of her head slams up into his nose and she hisses, an apology instantly spewing out of her mouth.

"Oh my God," she murmurs. "Kozik, I'm so sorry! I-"

"Awe, shit," he groans, a big hand going to grab his nose.

Emily holds the top of her head, blinking in order to try and clear her vision. There were bright spots of white clouding her focus and her vertigo was off; she was swaying a little, almost falling off the couch at one point.

Of course, right when they were about to kiss, she had to go and ruin it. Figures. That was her to a T, ruining shit for herself since she was old enough to walk on her own.

She goes to attempt to stand up, thinking him to be angry now because she'd probably broken his nose, but Kozik stretches a big hand out and gently grabs her wrist.

"Hey, be careful," he says, "You hit your head pretty hard."

Emily almost laughs. "You're the one with a bloody nose."

Kozik laughs too, a grunt of pain emitting out of his mouth too. "Had worse than this before, doll."

She laughs harder at that, a little bit in disbelief that he wasn't, in fact, angry at her.

He pats her previous seat and grins despite the pain she knows he must feel. Emily obliges him, though doesn't sit as close as before.

"Let me see," she says.

Kozik removes his hand, wincing as he does, but still tries to grin. Emily grabs some tissues off the coffee table and applies gentle pressure to his nose. The blood almost immediately sops through.

She feels like shit, honestly, and is embarrassed. Not only had they almost kissed but she'd managed to injure him just as she got close enough to actually feel him. Trust the one time that Emily manages to get a man to actually sit down with her long enough, she manages to break his fucking nose.

"Thanks," he murmurs.

Emily just smiles. She didn't know what he was thanking her for, after all, it had been her who had slammed her head into his face.

"I don't think it's broken," she says while her gaze roves over his face. "It'll bruise pretty bad and be sore for a week or two."

She manages to get the blood to stop, the pressure she'd applied easing as she notices him wincing once more. Emily stands, explaining she'd get something to clean the rest of the blood off his face, and heads into the kitchen. But just as she goes to make her way around the couch, Kozik catches her hand again.

"Hey," he murmurs, tone soft, almost a whisper. "C'mere."

He pulls her into him and eases his big arms around her frame gently. His eyes are hooded as they peer down at her.

"You-"

But Kozik cuts her off by pressing his mouth against hers in a kiss that makes her gasp. She can feel him smile a little but then he's holding her closer and kissing her harder, like he's trying to make up for the lost few minutes from their interrupted time from before.

Emily is lost. Kozik is warm and sturdy and it feels so good to have him pressed against her like this. He holds her tightly while his tongue slides against her lower lip. She opens her mouth to allow him in and is melting into him completely. Fuck, he even tasted good.

The kiss is delicious, but Emily has to breathe. She parts from him though keeps close, so their noses are grazing and her forehead is against his. Her chest rises and falls fast as she sucks in quick breaths. When she manages to open her eyes, Kozik is peering at her already. He brings his hand up in order to push a few tendrils of hair out of her eyes, then grins a lopsided smile.

"That okay with you, doll?" he asks.

Emily almost wants to laugh at this. A big, tough biker, who could probably get any girl he wanted with a motion of his hand, asking her if kissing her was okay.

As an answer, she throws her arms around his shoulders and hugs him tight. Maybe that was the corny thing to do but Emily didn't care. For once, she wasn't thinking about it, she was just acting.

She liked him and he made it easy- he made being herself easy.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** _How did you like it? I'm pretty sure this is just going to be a one shot. I've considered doing a follow-up, but don't know 100% yet. Leave me love, please!_


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